RETRO MEAT LOAF
This version is loaded with flavour and has a retro red-sauce essence
Usually I go to the market or grocery store for inspiration, buy whatever looks most tantalizing and head home to make dinner. Other times, I have a more-or-less fixed idea of what I want, but haven’t fine-tuned it.
The other day, I wanted meat loaf, but not any old meat loaf. I didn’t want a North Americanstyle version, bland yet comforting. I grew up on that: it was fine, cooked not in the oven, but on a rack in our trusty electric skillet, set on low and covered for an hour and a half. That meat loaf emerged moist, with its signature stripe of bottled chili sauce running end to end down the centre. We ate it warm for dinner, or had it cold for lunch on white bread slathered with Miracle Whip.
What I longed for was an Italian-influenced meat loaf (I had just been to Italy for a week’s holiday) but not necessarily an authentic one.
I had in a mind a meat loaf that conjured the feeling of an ItalianAmerican red sauce restaurant. My fantasy was big, flavourful and not at all subtle: a kind of tasty meatball, but bigger, cheesy, drowned in sauce and baked.
Certainly a recipe exists for such a meat loaf, but I devised my own. The ingredient list began with a pound of ground veal (or beef or turkey), a pound of ground pork, some dried bread cubes soaked in milk and a couple of eggs — so far, so normal.
To this mixture, I added salt and pepper, red-pepper flakes, crushed fennel seed, grated Parmesan, chopped parsley, oregano and cubes of provolone. I also blanched and finely chopped some broccoli raab — a little voice told me to. The mixture was highly seasoned and delicious (I cooked a small patty to check) and rather wet, which is what you want for a moist meat loaf. I moulded it into an oval and placed it in a baking dish.
Now it needed a bold red sauce, which I made quickly with canned tomato purée and canned crushed tomatoes, to be poured generously over the loaf. Not stopping there, I topped the whole affair with grated pecorino and provolone and a fistful of dried bread crumb.
I can report success. This meat loaf is loaded with flavour and has a retro red-sauce essence — so much so, I nearly considered serving it with a side of spaghetti.
Meat Loaf Parmesan
Makes 6 to 8 servings For the meat loaf 1 pound ground veal (or ground beef or turkey)
1 pound ground pork 2 teaspoons kosher salt
1⁄2 tsp black pepper
Pinch of red-pepper flakes
1 tsp crushed fennel seed
1⁄8 tsp nutmeg
1 cup dry bread, cut in 1⁄2-inch cubes, soaked in 1 cup milk 2 eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1⁄2 tsp dried oregano
5 ounces cooked broccoli raab or spinach, blanched, squeezed dry and chopped (about 3⁄4 cup) 1 cup pitted green olives, roughly chopped
1 ounce grated Parmesan (about 1 cup)
5 ounces provolone, cut in
1⁄4-inch dice (about 1 cup)
5 bay leaves
For the sauce
4 tbsp olive oil
1 cup diced onion
1 whole garlic clove Salt, to taste
2 1⁄2 cups tomato purée 1 1⁄2 cups crushed tomatoes Pinch of red-pepper flakes 1 basil sprig
For the topping
1 ounce grated pecorino 4 ounces grated provolone
1⁄2 cup dry bread crumb Basil leaves, for garnish (optional)
Total time: 2 1/2 hours
1. Put veal and pork in large mixing bowl. Add salt, black pepper, red pepper, fennel seed and nutmeg. Knead mixture to incorporate.
2. Add soaked bread with milk, eggs, parsley, oregano, broccoli raab, olives, Parmesan and provolone. Mix with hands and knead to ensure ingredients are distributed evenly. Pat mixture into a free-form loaf and place in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Press bay leaves on top.
3. Make tomato sauce: Put olive oil in a nonreactive pan over medium heat. Add onions, garlic clove and a little salt, then cook, stirring, until translucent, about eight to 10 minutes. Add tomato purée, crushed tomatoes, redpepper flakes and basil sprig. Simmer for 10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning. Sauce may be made in advance.
4. Heat oven to 400 F. Spoon sauce over meat loaf, letting it spill over into the baking dish to surround loaf. Sprinkle top of loaf with grated pecorino and provolone, then sprinkle with bread crumb.
5. Bake at 400 F for 30 minutes, then cover, reduce heat to 350 and cook for 30 to 45 minutes more, until internal temperature is 150 F. Let rest before slicing. Top each serving with a good spoonful of sauce and garnish with basil leaves, if using.